“Many clubs would have a situation similar to the pandemic”

The footballers have already warned of a possible strike due to this crazy calendar that they have imposed so much FIFA as UEFAbut at the expense of knowing if this will happen, we must know the opinion of experts in the economics of sports. That is the case of Benito Pérez Gonzálezprofessor at Master of Sports Direction and Management from the International University of La Riojain addition to being a founding member of the Spanish Society of Sports Economics (SEED).

The renowned professor speaks to OKDIARIO to explain the consequences that this demonstration by the players could have on the economic health of the Suspenders and especially from the clubs. First of all, it is no secret that “a player strike causes a change in the football ecosystem.

«The players are right that physiologically the load to which they are subjected is enormous. And that, together with the fact that many of them cannot carry out the preseason correctly due to lack of time or because they have participated in national team championships, makes them feel subjected to very high loads that inevitably lead to injuries, fatigue and poor endings to the season,” he begins. Pérez explaining about the state of the footballer with the dispute of a marathon that does not understand the times of the year.

Without going any further, the real Madrid faces 11 months of uninterrupted competition and its second captain, Dani Carvajalalready spoke about the possibility of a strike. The right back corroborated what other stars such as Rodri Hernandez either Jules Koundéthe first to raise their voices against the very high level of demands imposed on them by the organizations that govern current football.

The question of salaries

But of course, the law is made, the trap is made. And their salaries also contribute to television income. And what do the distributors want? Well, games and more games. «About 30% of the income of the big clubs comes from television rights. Obviously, if there is a strike there are fewer games, it would mean fewer rights and, therefore, it would affect the income of the teams and that would have to be translated in some way to a lower economic capacity to assume salaries and to assume signings,” says the professor. .

«The players, as a rule, will always be demanding more and as the clubs earn more, the agents and the players themselves will ask for more accordingly. They know that the clubs have some income and they want to optimize the charges based on the clubs’ income, try to make them as high as possible,” he adds.

From an economic point of view, Pérez considers it “impossible” that, as is said, it is possible to reach squads of 30 or 40 players, even if this would guarantee “rotation” and avoid “burning out the players.” «It would also cause new problems because there are certain players who always want to be starters. It would take away prominence. That in turn would cause friction among the athletes and of course it would be unaffordable for the clubs, unless salaries were actually considerably lowered,” he explains.

And in the hypothetical case of reaching that strike, what economic consequences would there be?: «When it occurs we would have to look at the scenarios. Is it a lasting strike? Does it only last one game? Calendars would have to be readjusted, which is difficult because there are very few gaps. “If it were a more sustained strike over time, of course it would have very serious repercussions.”

“The strike would cause a cataclysm”

After that warning, Pérez guarantees that the teams would have a “lower collection of television rights” and that “that would also affect the clubs’ sponsorships, the box office… which are also maintained at a very high percentage.” “In the short term, athletes would cause a cataclysm if they achieved their goals,” he says. “There would be fewer matches and, therefore, fewer television rights, fewer sponsorships, fewer box offices, fewer salaries,” he insists.

Focusing on the issue of sponsorships, key today for the survival of clubs, Pérez thinks that “if the image of the sport in question is not good, it causes sponsors to flee.” The image stopped being the best a long time ago, since at the beginning of last season two of the best coaches in the world, Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola, already warned of the nonsense of this calendar. And the extended format of the new Champions League and the new Club World Cup, which could extend Real Madrid’s campaign until July, had not yet come into force.

A players’ strike is by no means comparable to the humanitarian misfortune that the COVID-19 pandemic brought with it, but could the strike bring a similar drought to the clubs?: “It was the first time in many years that there were more expenses than income in the clubs. Normally, the accounts are now positive. The First and Second Division clubs already earn more than they spend at the moment.

Fear of a scenario similar to the pandemic

More of the possible similarities with the pandemic: “It could be that the situation was similar to that of the pandemic, since much of the income would not be achieved in the short term, while expenses would continue to accrue.” But what if the strike added to the poverty of some clubs drowned by the agreement of our League with the investment fund CVC? “The truth is that it would be an unfavorable situation for those clubs,” he concludes about this possible scenario.

The only clear thing about this whole story is that there is no single culprit, but there is one cause: the footballer’s health. So far this season, which is not more than a month, a plague of injuries has devastated European football, which has not had a single respite after the end of the season. Euro Cup and that means that we can count in pairs the players who have already fallen in the battle that this calendar entails.